Category: Football

Paolo Rossi, Italy’s top-scorer in the 1982 FIFA World Cup, has passed away at the age of 64.

Italian TV channel RAI Sport, for whom Rossi had been working as a pundit, announced the news of his demise on Thursday morning.

“A very sad news: Paolo Rossi left us,” RAI Sport presenter Enrico Varriale tweeted. “Unforgettable Pablito, who made us all fall in love in that summer of ’82 and who has been a precious and competent workmate at RAI in recent years. RIP dear Paolo.”

Rossi’s wife, Cappelletti Federica, posted a photo of herself and her husband to her Instagram account along with the words “per sempre” which means “forever” in English.

She, however, did not disclose the cause of his death.

Rossi is widely regarded as one of the best forwards of all time and is most famous for his heroics at the 1982 World Cup in Spain. He scored six goals to win the Golden Boot as top goal-scorer, and the Golden Ball for the player of the tournament.

The forward is one of only three players to have won all three awards at a World Cup, along with Garrincha in 1962, and Mario Kempes in 1978. Rossi was also awarded the 1982 Ballon d’Or as the European Footballer of the Year for his performances. Along with Roberto Baggio and Christian Vieri, he is Italy’s top scorer in World Cup history, with nine goals in total.

“We mourn the tragic demise of the legendary Italian footballing icon Paolo Rossi, winning member of the 1982 FIFA World Cup Team. He was one of the three footballers to win the Golden Boot and Golden Ball in a single edition of FIFA WC,” the official handle of Indian football team tweeted.

In total, Rossi scored 20 goals in 48 appearances for Italy.

At club level, Rossi was also a prolific goal-scorer for Vicenza. In 1976, he was signed to Juventus from Vicenza in a co-ownership deal for a world record transfer fee. Vicenza retained his services, and he was top goalscorer in Serie B in 1977, leading his team to promotion to Serie A.

The following season, Rossi scored 24 goals, to become the first player to top the scoring charts in Serie B and Serie A in consecutive seasons. In 1981, Rossi made his debut for Juventus, and went on to win two Serie A titles, the Coppa Italia, the UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup, the UEFA Super Cup, and the European Cup.

The news of Rossi’s passing comes two weeks after the death of Argentina football legend Diego Maradona, winner of the 1986 World Cup.

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Former Argentina head coach Alejandro Sabella has passed away at the age of 66 after a battle with cancer and heart problems.

Sabella died on Tuesday at the ICBA clinic in Buenos Aires about 13 days after he was admitted with dilated cardiomyopathy, a disease that makes it harder for the heart to pump blood to the rest of the body, reports Xinhua news agency.

“The ICBA Cardiovascular Institute regrets to inform that the patient Alejandro Sabella died as a result of his diagnosis of dilated heart disease secondary to coronary disease and long-standing cardiotoxicity,” the hospital said in a statement.

Sabella was head coach of Argentina from 2011 to 2014 and guided the Albiceleste to the 2014 FIFA World Cup final, which they lost to Germany in extra-time.

He was also a skill-ful mid-fielder and earned eight Argentina caps in a playing career that included spells at River Plate, Sheffield United and Leeds United.

Argentina captain Lionel Messi was among those to pay tribute to Sabella in an emotional Instagram post late on Tuesday.

“It was a pleasure to share so much with you,” Messi wrote in a message alongside a photograph of the pair embracing during the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.

“Alejandro was a great person, as well as being a great professional who marked my career and I learned a lot from him. Together we experienced some of my best football memories during the World Cup qualifying stage and also at the World Cup. My condolences to all his family and friends,” the Barcelona forward added.

The news came less than two weeks after the death of football legend Diego Maradona, Sabella’s Argentina teammate in the early 1980s.

“Another harsh blow for football in this dark 2020: the beloved Alejandro Sabella has departed,” said former goalkeeper Ubaldo Fillol, who played with Sabella at River Plate and with Argentina’s national team.

“(He was) an exquisite player, a successful coach who took us to the World Cup final, and a great person,” Fillol added.

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Maymol Rocky, head coach of Indian women’s football team, is excited as the team begins its preparation for the forthcoming AFC Women’s Asian Cup qualifiers.

Thirty women footballers have been called up for a national camp that will start from Tuesday in Goa. This is the first senior national women’s camp after coronavirus-induced lockdown.

“The girls have not played football for almost nine months. They are all excited to join the camp. We haven’t seen the women’s team playing for a long time. As of now joining the camp and running on the lush green pitch is what everyone is waiting for,” Maymol said while speaking to the-aiff.com.

“We have been in touch over online sessions and phone calls. But physical interactions always value more, at least in terms of guiding and coaching players. The girls have been following the diet regime and strength and conditioning routine since the start of this unprecedented scenario but the need of the hour is getting used to ball once again,” she added.

The head coach said the initial target of the team would be to get the coordination back.

“Football is a team game and the purpose doesn’t get served until everyone is in sync. We’re looking forward to starting from scratch and get in the grooves quickly.”

In June this year, AFC granted India the right to host the Women’s Asian Cup in 2022.

Talking about the tournament, she said: “The AFC Women’s Asian Cup is the biggest tournament that India women’s senior national team will be playing in years. We competed in Olympic qualifiers but the AFC Women’s Asian Cup is a different ball game altogether.”

“We all are excited about that but there lies a huge responsibility in terms of delivering on the pitch. We’ve to be at the top of our preparations so that we can compete from the get-go. Although we still have a year or more, the preparation is a long-term process and competing with the likes of Asian’s superpowers will be a massive task,” Maymol added.

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Legendary Senegal midfielder Papa Bouba Diop has passed away at the age of 42.

Diop, who won 63 caps for Senegal, scored the goal which secured a historic 1-0 win over France in their opening FIFA World Cup match in 2002, a tournament where Senegal made it to the quarterfinals.

“FIFA is saddened to learn of the passing of Senegal legend Papa Bouba Diop. Once a World Cup hero, always a World Cup hero,” FIFA confirmed the news on Sunday evening on their official Twitter handle.

“Among Diop’s many accomplishments, he will always be remembered for scoring the opening goal of the 2002 World Cup. RIP, Papa Bouba Diop,” a tweet from FIFA read.

Senegal president Macky Sall also paid tribute on Twitter, saying: “The death of Pape Bouba Diop is a great loss for Senegal.”

“I pay tribute to a good footballer, respected by all for his courtesy and his talent, proudly reminding us of the Lions saga in 2002. I offer my heartfelt condolences to his family and to the football world,” he added.

The midfielder joined Fulham from Lens two years later and excelled as a powerful defensive midfield enforcer and was affectionately known as the ‘Wardrobe’ due to his stature.

“We are devastated to hear news reports this evening that Papa Bouba Diop has passed away, aged 42. Rest well, Wardrobe,” tweeted Fulham FC.

Current Senegal international Sadio Mane wrote on Instagram: “Pape Bouba, it was with a broken heart that we learned of your (death). Know that you will forever remain in our hearts even if you left without saying goodbye to us.”

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The short pre-season that preceded the season meant that Bengaluru FC were forced to make substitutions on Sunday in their Indian Super League (ISL) match against FC Goa despite them needing one more goal to win the match, according to coach Carles Cuadrat.

Cuadrat said that he was tempted to not make any changes, which included taking off talismanic forward Sunil Chhetri and goal scorer Cleiton Silva while the score was 2-2, but had to do it so as to avoid injuries.

“We were trying to avoid injuries. You don’t want to touch anything when you are winning but we have to make substitutions to give some break to the players. Unfortunately, in just three minutes they got two goals so there was no time to make more changes. But the guys did well and I feel it was a fair result,” Cuadrat said on Star Sports after the match.

Bengaluru were leading 2-0 despite not having much of the ball untill 66th minute after which Goa scored twice in three minutes to draw level.

“We were working for the three points but Goa are a great team, they can play some wonderful passes. We were doing our best considering that the players had a short pre-season and tend to get tired quickly,” said Cuadrat.

“It was the match plan, to hit them on the counter attack knowing that they are going to have more possession. We took advantage of things that we are good at like set pieces. I think we were good until the last pass. We did well everywhere but only in the last pass we were lacking. We will keep working on that.”

FC Goa coach Juan Ferrando also said that he is happy with the result considering the fact that the players are not yet ready to play the full 90 minutes. “In the press conference before this season I said that we need time. It’s not just our players but also players of all teams had short pre-seasons and so the players are not 100 per cent ready to play 90 minutes,” said Ferrando.

Head coach Pep Guardiola has extended his stay as Manchester City after signing a new contract which will see him at the club until the end of the 2022-2023 season.

“Ever since I arrived at Manchester City I have been made to feel so welcome in the club and in the city itself, by the players, the staff, the supporters, the people of Manchester and the chairman and owner. Since then we have achieved a great deal together, scored goals, won games and trophies and we are all very proud of that success,” Guardiola said in a statement.

“The challenge for us is to continue improving and evolving, and I am very excited and about helping Manchester City do that,” he added.

Guardiola’s current deal was due to end at the end of the current campaign but the new deal gives him the chance to improve on the two Premier League titles, one FA Cup and the two League Cups he has won with Manchester City since joining from Bayern Munich in 2016, with the Champions League the club’s main target.

Since joining Manchester City, the 49-year-old has had a transformational effect on the Club’s playing style and has guided the team to eight major trophies, setting a series of significant records along the way. In total, the team has won 181 of the 245 matches under his in charge – a win rate of 73.87 per cent – winning a piece of silverware every 31 games he has overseen.

His current five-year stay is already the longest commitment he has made to a football club since becoming a manager in 2008 – and this extension will see him overtake Joe Mercer and put him second on the club’s list of longest-serving post-war managers.

“Pep’s contract extension is the natural next step in a journey which has evolved over many years. It is a product of the mutual trust and respect that exists between him and the entire club,” City chairman Khaldoon Mubarak said.

“It also goes to the stability and creativity at the heart of our football operations. Importantly it is a validation of the football structure and philosophy that has been built over more than a decade and to which he has contributed so much,” he added.

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Arjuna awardee Gurpreet Singh Sandhu feels Bala Devi’s “path-breaking” journey can inspire not only the women footballers but also their men counterparts in the country as well.

“It (Bala’s maiden start for Rangers Women FC) is a proud moment for the country. She is a true example of hard work and dedication. Her path-breaking journey is not only a proud moment for women’s football in India — men footballers also can take a leaf out of her book to achieve their target,” the-aiff.com quoted Gurpreet as saying after Bala made her first start for Rangers against Spartans in Scottish Women’s Premier League on Sunday.

Bala joined Rangers Women FC in January this year before the Covid-19 pandemic broke out. Although she had already made appearances in friendly games earlier, the elusive league start came against their narrow victory against Spartans. Rangers won the match 1-0 to take their tally to a maximum of six points from two outings so far.

Gurpreet, the only Indian footballer to have played in the Europa League so far, joined Stabaek — a Norwegian top division club — in 2014 and two years later, he appeared in a Europa League qualifier match on June 30, 2016.

In hindsight, Gurpreet feels Bala’s exemplary journey would create more “awareness” around women’s football in India and it will “inspire more girls to play the Beautiful Game with a target to achieve”.

“The most important thing for Indian football is a moment like this will create more awareness around women’s football. More girls will look to play football with a purpose and zeal to achieve something. Bala’s journey should bring lights to these aspects,” Gurpreet said.

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